Snow Babies

I guess all of the books about snow days that Sean and I have been reading over the past few weeks have awoken the snow gods because Hotlanta got SNOW!!! It hasn’t snowed since the year Sean was born so the excitement was unreal. We were home to catch the first snowflakes, watch the soft fluffy flakes pile on top of leaves, and played for hours.

I love the connection that Sean was able to make from our snow day and the story The Snowy Day.  We made tracks in the snow, threw snow balls, made snow angels, and built a small snowman just like Peter. In the morning we woke up to snow still on the ground and he was so excited as he noted that the sun hadn’t melted the snow yet like in his book.

When I was in the classroom I noticed a huge discrepancy between my readers and nonreaders. Those students who loved to read and had a tendency to be stronger readers had vast background knowledge (also called prior knowledge) to topics we were studying because they had been exposed to similar experiences outside of the classroom. These experiences gave them a leg up over their peers who lacked exposure to a variety of topics in vocabulary and comprehension. Because they already had prior knowledge they were able to dig deeper and be more inquisitive than those who spent their time just trying to get the basics of the topic.  As a teacher I promised myself that when I had kids of my own I would try my best to provide them with opportunities to explore their surroundings, various people, and situations out of the 4 walls in a room. I often use books, songs, and nature to help Sean build connections from what he learns and experiences. This was a perfect ending to all of our stories on winter days.  

One of my favorite things about living in the southeast is that we truly get to experience all 4 seasons and the splendor each one brings. This was a magical time for both my babes.

Olivia didn’t quite enjoy wearing all the layers I stuffed her in, but it was so cute to watch her explore how the snow felt on her fingers and the taste of it on her tongue. She even braved sledding on daddy’s make-shift box lid sled.

 

Tomorrow will probably be the last of our snow this season, as the temperature will be rising so I plan on bringing a pan of snow in the house for Sean to “paint” with food colored water and a medicine dropper. We will also be making an Ezra Jack Keats inspired “Snowy Day” illustration of our own. Sean will use crayons to draw a picture of his favorite snowy day activity (with the help of mommy) and then he will use water color paints to wash over his drawing.

If you and your little one would like to join us in our snowy day activities checkout the author’s webpage for a free read aloud, games, and activities for the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/the-snowy-day-fun-and-games/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smitten with Mittens

Missing Mitten Mystery

Baby it’s STILL cold outside, so we’re still indulging in chilly stories. This week we’ve been smitten by mittens… Missing Mitten Mystery that is! This Steven Kellogg story tells of little Annie’s search for her missing red mitten. She retraces her steps from the day and daydreams of places her mitten could be, only to discover it in an unlikely place.

The missing mitten was Annie’s 5^th one she had lost, so before reading the book I “hid” 5 red paper mittens around the playroom. After we read the story I had Sean hunt for all 5 mittens and then put them in numerical order.

 
 

 

Next, Sean and I played a mitten memory game. Very simple, I just cut out mitten shapes from various scrapbook papers in pairs. Then like any traditional memory game we flipped the mittens upside down and took turns flipping them over to try to find matching patterns.

 

Annie’s missing mitten was found, as the heart, in the snowman that she built with her friends earlier in the day. The final project was a snowman puppet. Sean’s grandparents had taken him to the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts last week to see a play about a snowman that fell in love with a stove; he was given a snowman kit to make his own puppet. We used the template provided and I let Sean decorate it to his liking.

Extending stories for toddlers and preschool aged children is fun and easy. I always preview the story first and find some element of the story that I can connect with art, math, science, movement, colors, vocabulary, or letters. It doesn’t take much to make meaningful learning through play, reading, and art.

Snowy Day

Burrrrr! I don’t know about where you live, but it’s sure been cold this past week in Georgia. The temperature dropped to a chilly 5 degrees and I secretly prayed for some nice fluffy snow for my kids to enjoy…but all we got was COLD! So we snuggled up and experienced a snowy day inside the only other way I know- in a book.

 

I remember reading Snowy Day  by Ezra Jack Keats when I was a kid and reading it to my kiddos brought back memories of building snowmen, making snow angels, and making snow cones with my sisters. In this award winning story a little boy named Peter wakes up to a snowy day and experiences all the joys that snow brings. He even tries to keep a snowball memento in his pocket for later. Sean was captivated by the illustrations and intrigued by all the things that you can do with snow. When a child’s interested is peaked from something in a book it is the prime time to extend the story.

Activity #1: Sensory

The first day that we read the story I let Sean experiment with some Grow Snow. Grow Snow is a fine white powder that I purchased in the science section of Hobby Lobby (I have also seen it at teacher supply stores and Michaels craft store), when you add water it expands and swells and takes on the texture of real snow. I added some crushed ice that I blended to make a more “snow” like feel. Sean was in love at first touch. He scooped, squished, and even tried to make a miniature snowman.

Olivia had the chance to play in some crushed ice as well. Since she is still in the “put everything in the mouth” phase I didn’t feel comfortable with her playing in the Grow Snow. She loved the ice, of course she spent most of her time sucking and soothing her gums.

 

Activity #2: Fine Motor

Sean’s been learning to correctly hold and use scissors, so I found making some good old fashioned paper snowflakes to be the perfect activity to compliment the story. Because he is just learning to cut I used thin, white cupcake liners in lieu of regular paper (coffee filters would work too). If you’re unfamiliar with making paper snowflakes, all you do is fold paper several times and cut out shapes on the folded sides…open and reveal a beautiful snowflake.

 

 

We talked about how every snowflake design is different and special, and compared the patterns on the 2 he made with the one I made.

Activity #3: Science

In the story, Peter places a snowball in his pocket for later but when he returns to check on it he is disappointed that it’s “gone.” Sean was confused as to where it went so we did a quick experiment. We talked about how heat can melt things. I gave Sean a candle to hold over an ice cube and we watched as the ice cube slowly “turned to water.”

 

Next we put the ice cube in a baggie and placed it in Sean’s pocket, like Peter, and left it there while he completed his last story activity.

 

Of course, after 15 minutes we checked it…and Sean discovered that it was completely “gone” like Peter’s snowball.

 

Activity #4: Felt Board

For the last activity I gave Sean several pieces that I cutout of felt (purchased at Hobby Lobby 4 sheets for a dollar) to create a snowy day scene. I used the easel that he got for Christmas, and just attached a large piece of stiff felt (purchased at Hobby Lobby for less than a dollar) as the background. Since he is in love with trains I also included some pieces to make tracks and trains, as well as parts for a snowman, and trees. This was a big hit with Sean. He has a much smaller felt board and pieces that I made for travel and restaurant use, but he loved having a larger surface to create a bigger scene. I will have another post soon with more ways to use your easel and felt boards so stay tuned.

 

 

 

Make sure to check out the author’s webpage for a read aloud and games: http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/fun-games/the-snowy-day-read-aloud/

SPOON

Meet Spoon…

Sean and I discovered the book Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal at the library. It is such a cute book about a little spoon that becomes disheartened and feels that fork, knife, and chopstick have a much better life than him. A very sweet message of loving yourself as you are resonates throughout the simple, but adorable book.

I think we may have read this book at least twice a day during the 2 weeks we checked it out. Since it had become a “favorite” I figured it would be a great book to bring to life with some art and sensory play. I scavenged through the kitchen and found a huge bowl, a bag of dry beans, a spoon, knife (butter knife), fork, and chop sticks. Pulling together an activity to extend a book is usually fairly simple and I try to use things I have around the house.

Art:

I cut out the shape of a spoon on white construction paper, and also some body parts (I loosely followed the illustration of the book- it doesn’t have to be perfect) and let Sean paint the spoon and glue on his own body parts.

 

 One of the hardest things for my Type A self to do is let go and let Sean do his own thing. I fight the urge not to correct him and place things where I want them to go. He did a great job using the glue himself and “correctly” placing the body parts.








 AND…BAM!!! Sean now has the main character! SPOON

Sensory:

Since Spoon was having a hard time realizing how special and useful he is, I supplied Sean with all the “characters” aka utensils and a bowl of beans. He spent about 30 minutes trying to scoop beans with each item and came to realize that SPOON was best suited for the task. A little problem solving action at work!

 

 

For slightly older kids you could purchase cheap wooden spoons ($store) and supply them with yarn, markers, buttons, etc. and have them create a puppet to use in a play. Use the puppet, and other utensils from the book to retell the story.

My Top 10 Ways to Raise a Bookworm

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." — Emilie Buchwald

"You may have tangible wealth untold. Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be — I had a mother who read to me." — Strickland Gillilan

"There is no substitute for books in the life of a child." — May Ellen Chase

“Everyone” knows that reading to children is important…BUT “everyone” is not doing it. The statistics speak for themselves!

*Across the nation just under half of children between birth and five years (47.8%) are read to every day by their parents or other family members. Russ S, Perez V, Garro
N, Klass P, Kuo AA, Gershun M, Halfon N, Zuckerman B.

#1 Start Early

*By the age of 2, children who are read to regularly display greater language comprehension,
larger vocabularies, and higher cognitive skills than their peers. Raikes, H., Pan, B.A., Luze, G.J., Tamis-LeMonda, C.S.,Brooks-Gunn, J., Constantine,

I read to both of my babies in the womb. Some believe this to be pointless, but I wanted my babies to hear the rhythm of literature and get used to hearing my voice outside of everyday conversation. Once they were in my arms, our noses have been in a book on a daily basis. I strongly recommend starting as early as possible to teach children how to hold a book, turn pages, enjoy illustrations, and develop a strong attention span.

#2 Let them see YOU reading!!!!

Our children look up to us and emulate our actions; we have all said, “Actions speak louder than words!” Turn off the screens and let reading be a family activity. “Readers are leaders,” so step up and lead your children into the wonderful world of literature.

#3 Have Books Available

*Creating a steady stream of new, age-appropriate books has been shown to nearly triple interest in reading within months. Harris, Louis. An Assessment of the Impact of First Book’s Northeast Program. January 2003

Start a home library with books that children will cherish forever. Collect classic favorites like: Goodnight Moon, Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, Five Little Monkeys,  and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Scour yard sales, consignments shops, bargain stores, and thrift stores. Invest in their favorite books and keep the library growing. Children need to have books that are their own. Find board books and fabric books for little babies that are tough and durable.

 

 

#4 Frequent your library…and not just to check out books!

Sean LOVES going to the library. We go twice a month to check out new books and use a bag that is only used for library books so he learns to keep up with them. He enjoys finding new books on his own and I usually choose a few that I want to share. In addition to checking out books we attend story time and other free programs such as the zoo mobile. Your public library is a great way to encourage reading and your librarian is another valuable resource. Check out the programs your library has to offer and help your child register for their own card.

#5 Read from a variety of genres

*The more types of reading materials there are in the home, the higher students are in reading proficiency, according to the Educational Testing Service.³

Classic literature is by far my favorite, but I make sure we read other types. There are great poetry books for kids, and nonfiction is imperative in helping our kids understand science, social studies, and research. Fairytales are a fun way to introduce drama, and nursery rhymes are rarely taught anymore. 

#6 Incorporate Techy Books

In my opinion nothing holds a candle to a physical book with pages full of new adventures, but we are in the middle of a huge technology explosion that seems to suck our children in, so explore ebooks for tablets, ereaders like Leapfrog, and websites like http://www.storylineonline.net/ where actors read aloud great stories.

 

#7 Bring Stories to Life

After reading books use them to explore art projects, reenact favorite parts with homemade puppets and props, make up silly songs, or create learning games based on characters, plot, or theme.

 

 

#8 Read books about topics they love

#9 Make it apart of your daily routine

We read books all throughout the day most days, but reading is a part of our nightly bedtime routine. Sean picks 1 and I pick 1 to share in our big rocking chair in his room. Although Olivia reads with us, after Sean is tucked in, Olivia and I return to her room to read books that she enjoys. If we are traveling I always have at least 2 books with us. We read EVERY night! Find a way to incorporate reading that best suits your family.

#10 Make it fun not stressful

*Reading for pleasure is more important for children's cognitive development than their parents' level of education. (2013 research by Dr Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown from the Institute of Education)

Make Reading Everyday a Priority in 2014!

Color Me Crazy

If you have small children, chances are you have bits of old, broken crayons from party favor bags and restaurants floating around your home, car, diaper bag, and purse. STOP! Do NOT throw those colorful gems away...recycle them into NEW chunky crayons full of colorful swirls that are the perfect size for tiny hands.
This quick "science" experiment, as Sean called it, is FREE, easy, and cute. Truly a throwback, I remember doing them as a Girl Scout. So go dig out those crayon tidbits, preheat your oven to 250 degrees, and get ready for the rainbow magic.

Step 1: Unwrap all the crayons.

 

Step 2: Have your lil assistant help you break the crayons into even smaller pieces.

 

Step 3: Place some cupcake liners into a muffin tin and then add the crayons to the liners. You can go Crazy and mix the colors, have your child sort the by like colors, or use this as an opportunity to mix colors from primary to secondary! You can also opt to use small molds for fun shapes instead of a muffin tin...whatever tickles your fancy!

 

 

Step 4: Place in the oven at 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes until completely melted.

 

 

Step 5: Let them cool completely and remove from liner...then get crazy coloring!

 

 

So simple yet so fun! The sweetness of children is that they find joy in the simple things.

Happy Coloring : )







Spaghetti and Meatballs for 2!

Ahhhh! My FIRST post...the excitement is unreal from the other side of the screen!

Having two kids to entertain and keep busy at the same time can sometimes become overwhelming since their needs and interests vary so much, so if I can engage them both at the same time it is a definite score for momma.
Reading is a MUST in this house (the perks of having a former teacher as a mother I suppose...I'm sure they'll appreciate this one day) and something they both enjoy so I will attempt to make an activity out of every story. A rainy day reminded me of a book I used to read to my class, so off to our comfy couch we went to dive into Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett. Sean enjoyed the tale of a town called Chewandswallow where townsfolk enjoy food falling from the sky as various weather, until one day it becomes so out of control they must devise a plan to save themselves from the haywire weather.

Then the fun began...we broke out the spaghetti (leftover plain cooked pasta from earlier in the week) and meatballs (craft pom poms)!

Livie was a bit timid in the beginning, she kept looking up at me as if to get my approval to play, but once she squished those lil toes in the pile of spaghetti it was on! Since the pasta was cooked and safe for baby I didn't mind her tasting it, but I had to watch her with the meatballs. I love sensory activities for babies and toddlers it's a great way to explore the senses.

While Livie tasted, squished, and pulled strands of pasta, Sean broke out his tweezers from a Dollar Tree bug collecting kit and began to pick out the meatballs (a great fine motor activity). I used this time to add my "educational" spin by prompting him to discuss color, count, sort, and finish patterns. We used the noodles to sort by size and talked about new words to describe them. Sean said they were, "sticky, white, and skinny!" A simple way to add words to their growing vocabulary is to just constantly talk (describe) what you are doing in daily activities.

As much as I loved the learning part, my greatest joy is always in the interaction of my babes.

Do you have any creative ways of using leftovers in your play?